Mac Miller's "Circles" Producer "Believes" Ariana Grande Vocals Are On Album

Jon Brion chops it up about the making of "Circles."

BYAron A.
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Friday was an emotional day for many Mac Miller fans who took in his first posthumous album, Circles. Mac started working on the project before his death as it serves as a companion piece to Swimming. The rapper never had the chance to complete his project but Jon Brion, the album's producer, took on the task of completing it as accurately to Mac's vision as he can. 

"He had been working with Jon Brion, who after hearing some early versions of songs, cleared his calendar to help Malcolm fine-tune them," a statement from Mac's estate wrote upon the announcement of Circles. "After his passing, Jon dedicated himself to finishing Circles based on his time and conversations with Malcolm."

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Jon Brion discussed working on this project including speculation that Ariana Grande's vocals are included in the song, "I Can See."

"I believe there are," Brion said. "Somebody just told me something about that, some kerfuffle," he continued. "I mean, that was a pre-existing track. There were a few songs the family gave me that he’d been working on independently that I thought fit thematically with what we had worked on. ‘I Can See’ was one of those… I played some things on those tracks to make them feel like the others, but those vocals were already there. It wasn’t like an executive decision or anything.”

Peep the full interview here. 


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About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.